A Different Way
by Whitemiko12
Summary: This is a prequel of my story A New Path. It's an AU set in the Hobbit Cinematic Universe. Another person to keep the misfortune of the number 13, causes A Different Way to appear.
1. Chapter 1: Getting There

Chapter 1: Getting there

It was most irritating of Gandalf to call upon her at such a late time. Yes. Yes she was an elf and elves don't need as much sleep as other creatures, but she was in the middle of writing something very important to her!

"If you do not come down from your nest right now, Nemriel! I will contact your father and tell him you took his Winter Crown at the Snowflake Festival eleven decades ago, broke it into three parts and replaced it with your brothers Snow Crown and added poison red berries to it!" Gandalf the Grey to most or Gandalf the Meddler to Hobbits bellowed out towards the slight she-elf at the top of a grand ash tree. The reason, dear reader why he was so in unpleasant with her, as he is usually pleasant to all (unless they deserve it!), was because she couldn't heal Arathon when he was poisoned by a sword that made a fatal injury. She couldn't do anything but ease his pain, but Gandalf didn't believe her! They have mostly gotten over it, but old feelings do rise up now and then.

"Well, why should I come down with a threat like that Gandalf the Meddler! Why should I come down from my 'nest' and face you and get all tangled up in your meddlesome adventures! The last time I joined you in your adventures, Saruman hit me on the head, nearly cut off all my hair and nearly a finger or two! Why should I risk my hair or my life for one of your adventures?" She called down to the tall Istari, slightly teasing.

"For you will see your father and brother and your people and your friend Smaug again! The time is ripe for the prophecy to come forth! -" but before Gandalf could continue, he was interrupted by the she-elf's melodious voice.

"The last time Smaug referred to me as a friend was a century ago, three years before he took the Lonely Mountain and destroyed the dwarves lives there and my father refused to help them, even after he brought his entire army there and betrayed my trust! So why would I go back to the land that ruined my friendship with Smaug and the dwarves. The place that forced me to realise how stubborn my father was and how blinded my brother was to our father's actions. Give me one very good reason to assist you on this venture." Nemriel's voice got softer and darker the longer she talked to Gandalf.

Gandalf by this time was regretting to bring up Smaug and her father to her, who it seemed was still bitter about the whole affair. Knowing he was hurting her but also knowing that if the company didn't have a healer, they would all most likely die, and his mission was to stop many deaths.

While Gandalf was thinking all this, Nemriel already knew what she would do. She had seen the most likely outcome of the others in the venture Gandalf was asking her to join in, in her visions a century and a half ago and already having seen so many deaths in her very long life, she didn't want any more deaths to happen.

"You can heal the wound that Elves and Dwarves have against each other. You can show them that not all elves are the same. You can show them that not all children are like their family. You can -" And once again Gandalf was interrupted by her again.

"Very well then, Gandalf. I shall join this venture, but I need to deal with a few things." And with said, she flipped down off the branch she was sitting on and they got down to details and information. By the time dawn's fingertips were reaching the treetops, they had finalised everything, though Gandalf wouldn't tell her who else was in the venture, but in return she said that she couldn't meet at this Baggins home.

"But Nemriel! Why ever not? I-" and for the third time that night, sorry, for the first time that day, he was interrupted by her!

"I can't come because I have things to do and stuff to buy. I shall met everyone at Rivendell. Elrond has been a good friend and mentor and I can reach Rivendell at around the same time as you and this company does. Don't give me that look, Stormcrow! If this map is what I think it is, you will need Lord Elrond's help reading it! I will hear no more! This is the best I can do, so accept it or look for another elf who is a warrior, a healer and can speak most languages and is very patient with stubborn creatures and can survive non-hygienic creatures!"

"You have me there, Nemriel! Very well, I shall lead the company to Rivendell, a difficult thing to do with these hard-headed creatures, you shall all be introduced and we shall get Lord Elrond's help. See you at Rivendell in a month's time!" And with all that needed to be said was said, they parted ways for a month's time.

* * *

You must be wondering about all the different titles Gandalf has and I shall endeavour to explain why I choose them. Gandalf the Grey is his most common title and the one he goes by the most. Gandalf is known to the Hobbits as meddlesome wizard, as he makes respectable Hobbits dash off into the unknown, I sort of changed it to Gandalf the Meddler. Stormcrow is a title that in the film The Two Towers, Grima Wormtounge called Gandalf Stormcrow. I thought it was a cool name and he should have been called that more often, so I used it.


	2. Chapter 2: First Meetings

Chapter 2: First Meetings  
She had been Lord Elrond's guest for a day, and she was already worried. Gandalf is usually late, but he always tried to send word if he was late, and she hasn't received or heard any word from him in the past week! As she was wandering the halls, she heard word that thirteen dwarves, a hobbit and Gandalf was found using the secret pass!

'It seems that the company I am to join has finally arrived. Now, shall I introduce myself now or shall I do it at dinner tonight? Which one will be best?' Just as she was thinking this, she wandered onto an intricate designed balcony, noticing that there were five dwarves that she recognised from her visits to the Lonely Mountain and the Blue Mountains. Two she remembers quite well, as they often fought each other to sit next to her when she came for dinner when they were younger, for her stories were legendary even with the dwarves.

'It's decided then, I will come for dinner.' She thought as she saw the wall of elves surrounding the thirteen dwarves and one hobbit. She turned around and headed off to her rooms, determined not to be seen until that night.

Unknown to her, two brothers noticed her and they knew if they played their cards right, they could get a very good laugh out of it all, at the expense of others.

_

As the sun set, dinner was brought out for the company and Lord Elrond and his family. A cruel joke between Lord Elrond's sons and the dwarves was that the two elf princes told the cooks to only bring in vegetables, bread and fruit in but no meat! But their joke would be thwarted in the end.

After digging into their plentiful meal of leaves, vegetables and meant, many noticed an empty chair next to Lord Elrond and Thorin Oakenshield but only Balin, the negotiator of the group, had the courage to ask.

"Do pardon my asking, Lord Elrond, but why is there a spare chair between you and our Leader, Thorin Oakenshield?" But before Lord Elrond reply, the dinning hall doors were opened. Gliding across the floor to the spare chair between Lord Elrond and Thorin Oakenshield, while placing her weapons and pack against one of the pillars closest to the chair, was Nemriel Silverleaf or as dwarves call her Nilla. Many knew of her but not know her.

"Hello Balin! That is a very good question! In fact, I'll show you who sits in that empty chair." And with a flourish, she sat down on the chair, moving her long jacket around her.

"Oh! I do apologise Elrond! I am dreadfully late! But I hope you excuse me lateness when I tell you that your two sons were the reason of my lateness. They were going to play a nasty trick on your guests! Dwarves tend to eat more meat than greens, you see, like most elves tend to eat greens. They were planning on telling the staff that the dwarves, your guests, didn't want meat! Once I heard that, I headed straight for the kitchens and told them the truth!" And all through her explanation, two dark haired elves were trying to escape the pavilion, but Lord Elrond noticed them trying to leave.

Let us just say for the next two minutes the dwarves had a good laugh!

After that little entrance of hers, she turned around and faced Thorin Oakenshield.

"Hello Thorin Oakenshield. It's been awhile. How is Lady Dis and Lord Fenrin? Is his leg alright? I did my best, but he would never fight again." Many people were caught off guard by this exchange, for many never knew of an elf to willingly help a dwarf! Even more strange was the way Thorin replied to her.

"It has been awhile, Nemriel. But not long enough. My sister and brother are both well. He is learning how to fight in his condition. You do not know the stubbornness of dwarves well." And with that said, he turned back to eating. Ignoring her completely!

"Oh, I do apologise for the second time this evening! I am Nemriel Silverleaf. Or as most of you would be more familiar with, Nilla Silverleaf." She began once she knew Thorin would not bother with her again. Many were shocked that Nilla Silverleaf was here and sitting with them!

The reason for their shock, dear reader, is that Nilla Silverleaf is known to not only be friends with humans, Ents, wizards and Gods but to dwarves! Dwarves! She was also known to be not only be a great warrior and leader but to be known as one of the four greatest healers known in all of Middle-Earth! But what made her truly even more unique? Her hair was so dark, there seemed to be blue highlights! And her eyes! Her eyes! Truly! The would make any gem or stone that was blue look like plain rock! Compared to her eyes! They ranged from the lightest blue of the stars to the darkest blues of the darkest gems and stones! It is said that no enemy of hers could lie to her when she looks at them with her eyes! Not many creatures have these unique features as she does, meaning that she couldn't hide!

But her beauty was just a minor thing compared to her scars! Yes, dearest reader, scars! While scars are common for men, dwarves, hobbits and dark creatures, they are most certainly not common to elves! They heal so quickly and are hard to weary that for scars to stay are difficult for them to bear! But she didn't have one scar...she had a whole battlefield! Burns on her neck, two distinct scars under an eye, each, and countless little ones crisscrossing in her hands and arms! No one knows how many are on the rest of her body, but by the skin showing, a million more! Many suspected that there was a dark story behind each scar and were too frightened to ask, scared that if they ask too much, they may hurt her.

"My Lady! It is an honour to have you eat dinner with us this evening! We truly are blessed to have you with us!" Balin exclaimed most excitedly, acting as if he was a young dwarrow!

"Master Balin! It is an honour to be here! Having dinner with all you is an honour! But please, call me Nilla or Nemriel or even Nem, as my brother calls me! I am looking forward to seeing where we shall go from here! I am part of this group, aren't I, Gandalf?" Nemriel slyly said, giving a pointed look at the Grey Wizard. But before the Grey Wizard to say a word in his defence, all the dwarves stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

It wasn't just any ordinary look, it was the look. The look that said is-this-really-happening-and-is-she-bloody-crazy look. She either didn't notice the look, which is hard to believe as fourteen pairs of eyes were looking at her, or she was so used to it that it didn't faze her at all, which is just as unlikely kind reader, for it meant that she did this type of thing on a nearly everyday base! Which, wonderful reader, isn't such a good thing, once you think about it.

While they were looking at her in disbelief (the elves) or with the look (the dwarves and Mr Baggins) or with a teasing glare (Gandalf), she was calmly adding food to her plate and pouring a strange drink from an old drinking flask into her cup.

"Thrakun! What is the meaning of this! Why did you think that a lady, no matter how skilled in battle and politics and healing, would join my company!" But before Thorin Oakenshield could continue, Gandalf took his pipe out of his mouth and started to talk.

"My friend Thorin! I didn't not command Lady Nemriel to come nor did I blackmail her! I simply asked her, no tricks involved, and she agreed! We went through everything very thoroughly. And the reason why I asked her was simply because she is a great healer! And your company is filled with warriors, politicians and everything else in between except! A healer! And I am not sending you and your company on a trip without a healer!" Gandalf calmly said, but was slowly becoming riled.

"Mithrandial, let me. Thorin, we have known each other for along time, nearly as long as Prince Fili is old! If you do not want me, I will still follow you and help you, but it will be most unpleasant to you and most uncomfortable for me. If you let me join you and your company, it would be most comfortable for you and the company and it would be most beneficial for me and my book. And I can explain why King Thrandiual didn't help the dwarves of Erebor against...Smaug. And why he didn't help with the retaking of the Mines of Moria. Either way you choose, Gandalf wins and we will be the two fools who could have avoided uncomfortableness." And with all she needed to say said, she returned to her meal, waiting for his response.

Thirteen pairs of eyes were looking at their leader's frowning face. He was thinking deeply, torn between his pride, his hatred for elves and his duty as king. Knowing that pride was one of the reasons why Erebor fell and how prideful his grandfather was, especially his grandfather's need to be better than elves and his dislike of elves was one reason why the Mirkwood Elf King didn't help them. His grandfather, he realised wasn't a good king, in fact, even before the Arkenstone, he wasn't a good king. He knew what he had to do, though if only to see the look on Gandalf's face and the Rivendell Elves.

Hi readers! I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Sorry for any mistakes! I have no beta, but I am looking for a beta, so message me! I tried to expand on Thorin's thoughts, especially on his grandfather. Review and I hope you liked it!


	3. Notice

I am proud to say that in 2 weeks! Yes, only 2 weeks! I will be updating my stories! I am deeply sorry for the very late updates but I have had personal, family and exam stuff going on, so I haven't been inspired or had the time to write. But, my dear readers and fellow writers! I only have 1 more week of exams and then another week of school and then I am free! I will be starting with my on-going stories, such as my LOTR, Hobbit, Sherlock Holmes and Death stories. I can't wait for you to read them!

Before I can sign off, I would just like to say to whoever left a flammer for me, I understand that changed it so you couldn't understand my notice but I left that notice as I don't like my readers (how ever few they are) in the dark and keep them up to date with my work. I will not say sorry for giving a notice to my readers. You were my first flammer and I didn't appreciate your words but I understand part of our message. What was certainly not called for was for you to bag my work and my characters! This is a website for people to express their wants and desires for a fandom that they are passionate about, and to bag their creations is a rude and unneeded thing to do. It not only hurts their self-esteem but also their work! If you didn't like it, then you didn't need to say (or write) anything about it!

To my readers and followers, I am sorry for saying that, but I never had a flammer before and I didn't know how to react at first. It really did put me off my game and gave me a case of writers block. I don't mind that I have a flammer but it is a rude thing to do to people. I am sorry for rambling.

Signing off,

Whitemiko12

xoxoxo


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